Diva Tag Explosion!
by J.Steele
Summary: On the road to Wrestlemania 30, General Manager Booker T puts his grand idea into motion; an all Divas tag team division! The story follows Melina and her old...eh...NEW Tag team partner as they try to survive the rocky road in AND out of the ring.
1. Chapter 1

**The Road to Wrestlemania 30 – Diva Explosion**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own, know, or represent anyone from any real world wrestling organization. This is just a fan fiction, and the portrayal, likeness, etc are just character depictions and in no way represent the actual personalities of the men and women in the stories. It's just a little story.

-  
><strong>Melina gets a Partner<strong>

**Big Apple, 3 AM**

"_**Can you dig it?! Sucka?!"**_ The ringtone which was properly matched to the caller cut through the peace of the night like a sniper bullet through thick glass. Sleep was instantly shattered as Melina shot up out of her hotel room bed and flung over to the side. She fell right off the side with a hard thud that rattled the lamp, alarm clock, and empty champagne glass on her nightstand.

"…Ow." She groaned as her hand came up and slapped along the top of the nightstand to try and find her phone. On the other end of the bed the totally undisturbed John Morrison was resting peacefully…and…from Melina's perspective totally not assisting her at all. "No, I,…can't,… _dig it_…!" Melina huffed her words out as her hand missed her phone each time until her fingertips clutched the edges. "Ha! Got you!"

As she sat up on her knees, she peeked over the edge of the nightstand and quickly answered. "Hi?" She realized her voice was much deeper than usual…possibly from sleeping so hard. "Uh, hello?" She said after clearing her throat.

On the other end was Booker T, the current General Manager of the Smackdown! Brand in the WWE. "Hey babygirl, it's Booker. Sorry to disturb you at this hour, but we're overseas at the moment." Booker remained extremely professional on his end of the line, clearly sorry for breaking her sleep.

Melina shut her eyes and raised her eyebrows while rubbing the side of her head with her free hand. "No no! _Totally_ fine! I was up anyway." She lied, but kept a smile on her face. "What's up?"

"Well, it's about that offer we discussed a few weeks ago." Booker explained. "I had a lot of meetings, and we're doin' somethin' big in the company starting real soon. We're hirin' a lot of talent and gettin' geared up for the Royal Rumble. We have a spot for you in our new **Diva's Tag Team Division** if you're interested in comin' to work with us again on Smackdown."

Melina was waiting for this call as if it was a call to tell her she'd won a billion dollars. It wasn't that she needed the money, but she had big ideas she hoped could improve the clearly floundering division she was once part of. The talks with Booker made her hopeful, but the _tag team_ division was a new development. "…I'm-sorry-what?" She spoke quickly, blinking twice as if she misheard him. "Divas Tag Te-, I'm a solo performer, okay? I mean come on, what are you going to do? Tag me up with AJ Lee or something? Oh great, we'll just have absolutely no contenders then, right? I thought this was about my solo career, Booker…"

The General Manager heard her out, but he was very adamant about this new idea. "No no, don't worry. AJ's already gettin' her partner. We're gonna try this out for a little while and see if it works. We're also doin somethin' of a reality show for the internet…so all of you will be recorded once you all hook up."

"…_I'm-sorry-what?"_ The deal was seeming more and more sour to her, and she had her forehead against the nightstand at this point. "…Booker…you're _killing_ me here. Who's AJ's partner, anyway? Out of sheer…uninterested-curiosity?" She pouted as she spoke her last two words out rapidly.

Booker smiled on the other end as he spoke. "**Ayako Hamada**. We cut a deal with her just the other day, and she liked what we're settin' up."

Melina couldn't believe her ears. She'd known about Hamada from her work in Shimmer and beyond, but she never thought the WWE would ever call her up. That was a huge talent in her eyes, and she potentially could have a great match or seven with her.

"…And who's_ my_ partner?" Melina was crossing her fingers tightly and held the phone away from her mouth and whispered '_Please don't suck'_ several times.

"Can't tell ya that." Booker shook his head. "But if you accept this deal we'll have the contract sent to you and you can review it before signin' with some of our people. She's already signed…just waitin' on you to pick her up."

"…Alright." Mel gave in and lifted her head from the nightstand fully now. "And John? Remember, he was part of the deal too!"

"J-Mo is welcome back on our show. We got a contract waitin' on him too." Booker confirmed. "If he works hard and brings all that Guru of Greatness jazz to the ring again, he can get a spot in the Rumble for sure."

"Yes!" She pumped her fist as she stood up with the sheet wrapped around her body. "Fantastic! I'll tell him right away! Oh…what do you mean about…'picking her up', by the way?"

"…We'll send you the address you need once the contract is signed." Booker had some more business to tend to, so he began to hurry Melina off the phone. "We'll be in touch. We'll have some people contact you for the signing before noon. Take care, Mel."

"You too, Booker." Melina hung up and dropped her phone down on the nightstand again. With all the excitement built up, she let out a shrill scream of excitement into the night air that resounded and echoed about the hotel room. However…it _barely_ disturbed Morrison.

"…Mel." Morrison groaned. "…_Shut up._"

******

**Later that day…**

After the contracts were signed, Melina and Morrison were on the first flight to Los Angeles. Once they returned to their normal L.A home, Melina got in her car, and was well on her way to the address Booker provided. The navigational system seemed to insist the location was a **women's prison**…

Melina thought it was a mistake, and perhaps it was a place…in the…area of the prison. Perhaps her tag partner just chose to meet with her at the location, and surely they were **not** about to pick up a convict or something of that nature.

The thoughts swam in Mel's head for the entire ride; maybe her partner was Victoria…that was _if_ her contract was up. Maybe her partner was Trish Stratus, but she had a family to take care of now, right? What if her partner was Sara Del Rey?! Though…she probably would be vastly too good to be true. Lots of names came to Mel's mind…Kana, Kharma, Sarah Stock, Maxine, Layla, Madison Eagles, Cheerleader Melissa, Daffney, and more!

However, when the big, shiny red car of Melina's pulled up to her appointed location…there was someone there waiting for her that she did _not_ expect.

"…Shelly?!" Melina looked on in total disbelief as her old friend stood out front of the prison with her black bandana on around her head, a cut-off 'nWo Wolfpack' shirt on that exposed much of her curvy torso. The khaki pants that clung to her hips was blocked partially by the large duffel bag she held in front of herself.

"_Melina_!" Shelly was absolutely ecstatic about this reunion! Many did not know this as a fact, but several years ago before they both were contacted to the WWE…Shelly and Melina worked as a tag-team and even trained together. They were old friends, but…the fact Shelly was clearly getting out of prison made Melina's eyebrows stay elevated.

Mel was speechless up until the moment Shelly climbed into her car. "What…why were…" She could hardly get her words out. She leaned back against her window as she looked at her green-eyed partner. "…_You're_ my partner?"

Shelly paid it no mind at all. She was unzipping her bag to retrieve her oversized headphones. "Yep, signed, sealed, and delivered, Mel." She puckered her lips up with her mischievous smirk accompanying her rosy red lips. "You act like you don't want to be my partner, Hermana! What's wrong?" Shelly finally caught on to the ill-feelings and looked on with concern.

"…Nothing, I…" Melina palmed her forehead and exhaled. "I just didn't expect it. This is…_great!"_ She bit her tongue from her true feelings. She loved Shelly sure enough, but as far as wrestling went…she had no idea if they both were on the same level or not. "So…are you getting a hotel or…?"

"Contact says we live together." Shelly said as she thumbed over her tablet to find a song on her playlist.

"**What?!**" Melina honked her horn in surprise with her palm. She actually slapped it in frustration as she wished she read that fine print! "No, no, no, no. Absolutely not." Melina shook her head. "You're getting a hotel, because I am not about to have you 'borrow' another car of mine after **last time**."

"I swear, that river came out of nowhere!" Shelly whined as the past was brought up. "Plus, I got out safely. You should be thanking baby J' that I was safe so I could be your tag partner all these years later, right?"

Melina started the car again and started to drive away while shaking her head. She reached beside herself to slip some sunglasses over her eyes in case the sun glared into her eyes while she was trying to deal with Shelly. "Right…" She exhaled. She decided that maybe it was best to focus on the positives and try to make the best of the situation. "So, you've been watching RAW, Smackdown, NXT and stuff so you can see what's going on? See how the girls are so you know how hard you have to train?"

"Yeah-yeah." Shelly said while scrolling through her songs still. "I watch it here n' there…"

"So, you've heard about The Shield?"

"Yeah-yeah. Captain America, Nick Fury, Black Widow n' stuff." Shelly was only half-listening to Melina. She did in fact have _no clue_ what The Shield was, but she was just making small talk.

Melina just went silent for a second. "You realize that's not even _close_ to what I'm talking about right?" She glanced over at Shelly as she drove on. "…Why were you in **prison?**"

Shelly rolled her eyes as if it wasn't a big deal at all. "Kinda stole a car, vandalized it, left the doors open, let hobos do their business in it, and left the keys in it. Nothin' major." She shrugged. "The guy was a puta anyways…"

Melina's look of concern and annoyance only grew with every syllable that Shelly spoke. "…What guy?"

"Oh nobody. Just Batista." She shrugged. "Shouldn't have been talkin' _crazy _at me in Publix."

Melina had her past with Batista…so that made her burst into chuckles a few seconds after Shelly finished speaking. "Alright, alright. This won't be so bad." She said out loud as she looked to Shell. "I'll back your choice of retaliation on that one. Anyway…, do you know who the other teams are going to be?"

Shelly put her headphones on, but kept her ear facing Melina uncapped by the large earphone. "Um…The Bellas, AJ and Ayako…, Sarita Stock and Kharma, Sereena Deeb and uh…somebody." She couldn't recall the names currently. "Some other girls, I donno. A lot of names I never heard of."

The names Shelly did know made Melina excited. It sounded promising for the most part, and she'd be able to truly compete against the best and put her staple on the WWE with Shelly. Possibly it would re-launch her singles career…which was the most precious thing to her. Call it selfish, but wrestling was **not** a team sport. She was sure Shelly wanted to put her singles career up there with the Taras, Trish Stratuses, and Beth Phoenixes and so on.

"Alright…" Melina took a deep breath. "We're going to Smackdown this coming Friday night, so we have a little time to train. I haven't gotten informed about the card yet, but supposedly they're going to open with a tournament for this new division, right?" Melina looked to Shelly for confirmation, and received a nod. "Perfect. We'll relax today and do the gym tomorrow, then be ready for Smackdown. Alright…all focus. Hollywood Hotties, let's go."

"…The hell?" Shelly looked to her partner with a disgusted look! "What? No-no, hell no." She spat toward the floor mat between her teeth.

"_Hey!_ Don't spit in my car!"

"_No!_" Shelly pointed at Melina's cheek and poked it. "Dumb name. We're goin' by a cooler name. We're gonna stand out. I…am _not_ going to get prissy prissy like you."

Melina shook her head as she stopped when she met up with a red light. "What do you suggest? Want me to pop vampire teeth in my mouth and a pirate eyepatch?" She glared from behind her sunglasses. "Oh, how about this? How about I spraypaint a beard on my face, pop a toothpick in my mouth, and strut around like '_Ray-sah Rah-moan'…"_ Melina rolled her R's with her exaggerated pronunciation of 'Razor Ramon'. She also topped it off with her impersonation of the man. "I can be all _'Hey yo. Here's anotha survey. You here to see…Shelly Martinez…or…Melina Perez'?"_

"Don't ever do that again. You suck at impressions."

"It doesn't suck as bad as dressing up like a **vampire**, _Ariel!_"

Shelly had a bitter taste in her mouth about her prior 'character' in the _WW_-ECW. "Ever heard of Salinas? Halloween Barbie? Cle-_Ho_-Patra?"

"_Real classy_." Melina said sarcastically as she waited for the light to change. She propped her elbow on the window and leaned her forehead on her waiting palm.

"Remember Melanie Little Deer?" Shelly snorted a laugh.

"…_At least_ I made a name for myself, _my_ name." She retorted with a pinch of sourness in her tone. "I'm going to be well received when I get back. My past really doesn't matter before the almighty _Melina_."

"At least I'm not a troublemaker." Shelly spoke in a sing-song tone while finally finding her song. She unplugged her earphones from the device and blasted the song 'Das Me' by Brooke Candy at maximum volume. "I _love_ this song! It's like…my personal theme song. Also, I think we should just be Shelly and Melina. **S n' M**. Simple, sexy, deadly."

"…_Please don't play that trash in my car."_ Melina scrambled to turn on her radio once the light changed. However no matter what she did, Shelly blocked her hand as she was yelling the lyrics to the song out at the top of her lungs.

Finally, Melina just gave up…figuring it was better to endure the horrible song once to let Shelly get it out of her system.

It was going to be a very long trip..., but she did not comment on the name too soon. She liked it, but right now she had to get control of her dear friend and get her on the right level.

-

**A/N**

Started this project for fun, and I'm trying to piece together a tournament bracket to lead up to the Royal Rumble. If anyone has suggestions on women's tag teams I'll gladly consider some of them. They do not have to be in the WWE, and they do not have to be popular at all. I'm going to try to at least mention them if they never have an actual match against Shelly and Melina.

It's going to be a mix of wrestling, backstage, and out of the arena interactions. All in which will be 'recorded' which is actually just what you guys will read if this goes on!


	2. Meet the Opposition

**Disclaimer: **I do not own, know, or represent anyone from any real world wrestling organization. This is just a fan fiction, and the portrayal, likeness, etc are just character depictions and in no way represent the actual personalities of the men and women in the stories. It's just a little story.

-  
><strong>Chapter 2; Meet the Opposition<strong>

**Los Angeles… 7:30 AM**

Even though it took a **lot** of convincing, Melina decided to allow Shelly to stay over until they got everything sorted out on where she would be living. She understood Booker T's idea on how 'living and together makes a team stronger', but Melina was thinking bigger than the tag team division. She was thinking of headlining Wrestlemania one day in the first ever women's main event match. She wanted to build herself up past the level anyone before her ever reached. She wasn't satisfied with being able to compete with Beth Phoenix and Natalya, she wanted to be on the same performance level as **CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Shawn Michaels, **and other wrestling _elite_ in all of the world.

She fell asleep the night before in John Morrison's arms and set Shelly up in the guest room that was mostly used for John's stretching, weight lifting, and cardio work along with her. She had John purchase a mattress to have moved into the room so Shelly could sleep in it, and hopefully be content with the limited amount of entertainment inside the room.

Melina's alarm went off, and she groaned in annoyance. She was getting to the best part of her dream. She had _just_ hit the Sunset Split on The Undertaker for the third time, and was one second from ending the streak! She didn't feel John's chest on her cheek this morning – and instead she was clinging to one of her silky soft pillows.

She felt his body behind her though. She figured maybe he rolled over or something. At any rate, he was closer to the alarm clock than she was.

"Babe…" Melina groaned as she tried to sneak in another five minutes of rest. "_Babe_…" She repeated, now starting to roll over. "Can you stop the alarm…?" Groggy, she rolled over and placed her arm over his torso and set her cheek on his soft bosom.

…

…

..Wait.

Soft bosom?

Melina's eyebrows lowered with concern and confusion. She reached up with one hand and placed her hand on the other clothed breast near her head. This…

**This sure as ****hell**** wasn't John.**

Melina shot straight up onto her knees with wide eyes as she saw Shelly laying there next to her with her hands behind her head. This morning, she was dressed in an oversized Zack Ryder T-Shirt, and _seemingly_ nothing else.

"**Shelly!**" Melina shrieked as she clutched her sheets to her own body. "What the **hell are you doing in my bed?!"**

Shelly was calm with a wide Cheshire-like grin on her face. "Team bonding! Plus, I was bored sleepin' in there by myself."

There were no words to match how furious Melina was. She half-expected John to be somewhere in the room…and how did he react to Shelly sneaking in?!

Melina rubbed the side of her head with her left hand while she clutched the sheets closer to her body. "…Where…is…_John_?"

"He is making breakfast or something." Shelly shrugged her shoulders and started to sit up. "Pancakes, fruit, blah-blah. So, I'm gonna go take a shower, and I'm gonna go out for a jog. Wanna join me?"

Melina considered it as she fell back onto her pillow and stared up at the ceiling. "We'll do all of that when we hit the gym…"

"Alright…" Shelly exhaled and climbed out of the bed fully. "By the way, we got a **lot** to talk about, chica. I'm expecting an e-mail from Booker about the Smackdown Card."

Melina was eager to see just who their competition would be in total, so she was going to do her best to stay focused. "We'll talk about it when it comes. Go ahead and shower, I'm gonna go check in on John…"

When the two women parted for now, Melina quickly threw on her black silk robe with her blue leopard print sash to tie about her waist. She always felt like…Ric Flair when she wore it, but this time when she walked into the kitchen with her hair untamed, she tried to prevent herself from doing a miniature Flair-Strut.

As expected, John was setting their table with three plates of pancakes, sliced fruit, orange juice…for _Shelly_, and the dreaded protein shake in the blender. Morrison was entirely topless with his Los Angeles Lakers basketball shorts on around his waist that hung a bit low on his sculpted physique worthy of Michaelangelo's praises. His hair always looked perfect, as if he just stepped out of GQ Magazine and into their home. For some reason or another, J-Mo had his sunglasses on as well.

"I figured you would be hungry after yelling at Shelly." John spoke calmly as he finished setting the table. He opened his arms as Melina approached him and welcomed her into his warm embrace. "She complimented my abs, but I assure you I had no physical contact with that woman. I fear it would end with my vehicle sitting on bricks, and my Guru-kidneys robbed from my spectacular physique."

Melina wrinkled her nose while she hugged him and put her head on his chest. "She's going to kill me." She spoke low as she heard the shower coming on in the background. "She's really going to kill my career. I can feel it."

"Relax," John said, now gently stroking her back. "I felt the same way about a lot of things. However, in the end, I proved to be too great for my obstacles. Think about it…I made _The Miz_ get taken seriously, and he went on to headline a Wrestlemania. I made the ECW Championship relevant, and above all…? I maintained a healthy relationship with the _hottest_ woman on the planet…"

Melina smiled. Despite their playful ego-trips there was a lot of sincerity between the two. There was a special intangible thing they could not explain that kept them connected. Sure they had things in common, sure they both loved what they did, sure they both had a certain charisma, but their love was stronger than Mark Henry, bigger than The Great Khali, and was destined to last longer than the Nature Boy Ric Flair's illustrious career.

They were the total package and she knew it; they complimented one another in ways she could hardly even begin to express. "The hottest woman besides you of course." She said playfully as the two shared a laugh. She looked up to him with her eyelids narrowing, her lips almost called for his as she smiled.

They leaned closer and shared a brief series of small pecks that led to Morrison's hand stroking her silk-covered outer thigh. He took charge and gripped her behind the knee and hoisted her thigh alongside his waist. His hand behind her back held her firmly to him as he leaned over and dipped her dramatically.

"You're funny." John flashed a smile and gazed at her though his several-thousand-dollar-frames. "Is it your sense of humor that's got me…all tangled in love with you?" He asked quietly while removing his hand from her thigh long enough to lift his sunglasses on top of his head. Following this motion, he brushed his hand through her wild morning hair gracefully.

In response to his words, Mel's other leg left the ground and coiled about the waist of J-Mo. She brought both arms around him as he held her up easily. "Maybe _one_ of the things. The other two are _Velma_," She motioned her head toward her left leg. "And _Daphne_." Then she motioned to her right leg.

"I love when they split-up." Morrison grinned while starting to stand upright with his girlfriend wrapped around his body like a clingy child. "_Unfortunately_…the hidden cameras, live feeds, and the like prevent me from having an Iron Man match with you in the kitchen, if you catch my drift. That will have to wait or be moved to appointed locations."

Melina's entire mood changed when she heard about the…hidden cameras. She remembered they were being recorded, but she didn't know that was **NOW**! "…_I'm-sorry-__**what**__?"_

Immediately her legs uncoiled from around her boyfriend and she backed off of him. She quickly started to fix up her hair best she could, as well as straighten out her robe. She didn't want to look a complete mess with people watching!

"…I suppose you didn't read the contact." John said calmly as he pulled his sunglasses back over his eyes.

Melina felt like **burning** that contract at the moment, but she wasn't going to throw away her opportunity. "_What is it with that contact and the fine print…?!"_ She muttered under her breath as she headed to the breakfast table for now. "…Well, Daphne and Velma are going to stay together for now. Sorry, '_Fred_'."

A little while later after breakfast, Shelly finally got the mail she was waiting on from Booker T. Immediately, she rushed to find Melina who was finally dressing for the day.

As Mel pulled her hair into a ponytail, Shell rushed into the bathroom beside her with her phone pushing right into the woman's cheek. "_BOOM!_" Shelly shouted, which startled Melina as if Shelly came in with a knife!

"Ah?!" Melina flinched and stepped back from Shelly. She looked at Shelly like she was a lunatic, but her eyes kept flicking down to the message on the screen of the smart phone. "What's this? The card?"

Shelly nodded with her lips pursed and puckered, but spread out into a big close-lipped smile. "Mmhm!" She pulled the phone back and placed one fist on her tilted hip while she began to read. "_Sixteen_ All-Female teams. The teams will be as follows; **The Bella Twins, AJ Lee and Ayako Hamada, Mio and Io Shirai, Molly Holly and Maryse, Sereena Deeb and Kana, Christina Von Eerie and MsChif, Daffney and Isis the Amazon, Shaul Guerrero and Charlotte Flair, Naomi Night and Cameron Lynn, Gail Kim and Victoria, Jazz and Tamina, Sarita Stock and Kharma, Beth Phoenix and Natalya, Angelina Love and Velvet Sky, Melina and Shelly Martinez, and Maria and Lena Yada**."

Shelly glanced up at her partner, then back down to the screen. "There will be a tournament leading up to the Royal Rumble where the first ever WWE Diva's Tag Team Champions will be crowned. However, this week on Smackdown there will be a **thirty-two diva rumble** involving every member of the teams listed above. This match will be over the top rope elimination style, where when one partner is eliminated, the entire team is. _Blah-blah-blah…"_

"Wait," Melina held her index finger up. "What's the _blah-blah-part?" _She learned from the whole 'did you read the contract' business already.

Shelly shrugged her shoulders. "I donno. Some mess about us doin' a promotional interview sometime before the match. So, we're gonna go under the name **SnM** okay?"

The stress was piling up on Melina's mind. Now she had to get ready to shoot an interview with Shelly? They had to get on the same page and **quick** so that they would not look sloppy amongst their competition. "Why do you get top billing? Why can't it be MnS?..Oh wait…S n' M…like S&M…Slave and Master…"

"Bondage."

"Freaky stuff. Got it." Melina squinted and just waved her hand dismissively at her partner. "Alright, SnM it is. We have to hit he gym tonight to get in sync. We have to be mentally and physically on the same page." Melina looked away from Shelly and shut her eyes. She took a deep breath and spoke positive, reinforcing words. "We have this. We will do well and we will meet and exceed expectations. Shelly, we are going to be a good team, and we are going to launch each other into superstardom. We are totally in sync, we're friends, and we're…"

Melina heard a beer can crack open, and immediately her eyebrows furrowed downward half in confusion and half in annoyance. "Shelly…" Melina exhaled. "…Are you drinking beer this early in the morning?"

Shelly paused while the can was to her lips. She slowly put it down on the bathroom countertop while giving Melina a non-blinking gaze of surprise. She slowly pushed the beer can beside the toothbrushes. "…It's not mine, I swear."

"You know what?" Melina shut her eyes again. "It's alright. I'm entirely fine with it. Just remember, gym, tonight, then we're doing the interview ASAP. Has anyone else done theirs?"

Shelly checked her phone and waited about ten seconds before she responded. "Yea'. Looks like Sarita and Kharma are the first ones with a video. Here, check it out." Shelly tapped her thumb on the screen and stood beside Melina so they both could view the video.

A computerized voice spoke as white text appeared over a black background. "This message has been paid for by Sarita Stock and the good folks in World Wrestling Entertainment."

As the video started, it began with Sarita Stock, aka _Sarah Stock_ or _Sarita_ from TNA fame standing in front of Kharma, who was also known as _Amazing/Awesome Kong_. Sarita was dressed in her black single-sleeved ring attire with its pink and silver trimming over her chest and sleeve. Her left arm had a half-sleeve that extended from her hand and just over her elbow. Behind her, Kharma was in her usual dark ring attire with her large arms folded firmly across her chets.

Sarita was grimacing in a menacing manner just before she began to speak. "My name…is **Sarita Stock**. This…" She looked behind her to Kharma then back to the camera, this time with a slight grin while her thumb pointed back to her. "This is my good friend, my insurance policy…**Kharma. **You see…the two of us are a team simply destined for greatness. I…" Sarita pointed to herself now as her brow lowered. "…I have donated **millions** of my hard earned money to charities, I feed starving children, I pay the bills of less than fortunate families where I can, I help victims of natural disasters and I am **always** the first one in line!" She sounded more **angry** than 'cocky' about her charity.

Sarita continued on as Kharma gave her support with a heavy pat on her partner's shoulder. "I give canned foods and toys to kids, I pay my taxes, but do I get an action figure made out of me? Do I get the respect I deserve? No!" She sliced both her arms across the air as her menacing grimace returned. She took her time to regain her composure with Kharma's support. "I…am a **wonderful person**! I am a** role model!** What goes around…comes around. With Kharma on my side?..._All_ of you are going to learn a lesson in _respect_ the **hard way**." She pointed directly at the screen as her expression melted into a smile. "See you on Smackdown, girls. StocKharma is a bit—."

The video cut out with static and the computerized voice repeating. "_This message has been paid for by Sarita Stock and the good folks in World Wrestling Entertainment."_

As the video cut out entirely, Melina glanced over at Shelly. "Well, they don't seem that bad." After taking a deep breath, she tapped Shelly on her shoulder twice. "I'll take Sarita, you get Kharma? _K'-bye_!" With that, Melina rushed out of the bathroom as Shelly's eyes went wide.

"Oh _HELL_ no! Why do I gotta fight her?!" Shelly chased after Melina. "Get a quarter, we'll flip for it…!"

- -  
><strong>Tune in Next Time for the Diva's Rumble!<strong>

**A/N: **Just a quick update, pacing up to the main action. I think I have a good cast of female wrestlers and I have a general path for the events leading to the Royal Rumble. Feedback is always appreciated! One reviewer asked for some cute moments between Melina and J-Mo…I'm working on building that as well.

For the readers, I'd like to know what you think about the teams(if you're familiar with most of them).

Thanks in advance!


	3. Diva Rumble!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own, know, or represent anyone from any real world wrestling organization. This is just a fan fiction, and the portrayal, likeness, etc are just character depictions and in no way represent the actual personalities of the men and women in the stories. It's just a little story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
><strong>Chapter 3; The Diva Rumble!<strong>

A whole day passed since Melina and Shelly got the notice to do their introduction video. A whole day had passed since Melina told Shelly to meet up with her for some training. A whole day had passed since Melina even _saw_ Shelly, and she was practically hyperventilating thinking that she'd have to forfeit her spot in the rumble due to Shelly not showing up.

Smackdown had started taping, and Melina was pacing back and forth in the halls, dressed to compete in her orange and black leopard print attire with her fur boots. She was furious, worried, and extremely anxious. All the girls were in the arena, some were hanging out, some were eating the catered food, and some were warming up for the big rumble. There were women **everywhere**, and it was no shock that a lot of the Smackdown guys were gravitating toward the little section of the backstage area they took up to try their hand at flirting.

Melina wasn't worried about getting hit on; her relationship was secure. She couldn't even sit down and watch her boyfriend make his return to the ring against Dolph Ziggler.

As she paced, she caught glimpses of young upstarts like Paige, Ivalese Valez, Audrey Marie, and her old nemesis Alicia Fox hanging around. However, it was an overly eager voice that broke Melina's moments of solitude.

"_Omigosh_! Melina!"

A voice called out and began screaming in joy, which absolutely scared the living hell out of Miss Perez.

When she turned around, she was being smothered by a tight hug from a woman she didn't identify yet. She couldn't breathe at all – it felt like she was getting a bear hug from Vader or someone of that nature. When the woman pulled back with her wide open-mouthed smile, she recognized her to be none other than Mickie James.

"Omigosh, it's been so long!" Mickie said as she held Melina's arms and gave her a quick look-over. "You look great!"

Mickie was _cool_ in Melina's book. She had a very good ring presence, skill, and seemed to have the 'Cena' mindset when things got negative…which was GOOD! However, Mickie had one flaw with Melina…, she _never_ forgot that crazy side of her was somewhere in the mix. She was always cautious about what she said around Mickie in hopes not to set her off and accidentally ignite 'Dark Mickie' as she called it.

"Ohh…hey! Thanks…!" Melina responded with a smile. "I didn't see your name on the um…Diva Rumble. What are you doing here…?"

Mickie cackled and released Melina. "Nope! No partner for me! I got a chance to do something else! Finish up some unfinished business! I'm gonna be shooting over to RAW after this, but tonight I team with _Jawn_," Her pronunciation of 'John' always sounded like that to Melina. "And Miz tonight sooo…just getting some momentum!" Mickie looked over Melina's shoulder. "Oh, where's your partner?"

Melina froze.

She had to access her file cabinet of amazing lies. There in cabinet 2D, section F, she found the perfect lie. "She went for a run around the arena to get warmed up. It's kind of her ritual, you know? I should get to stretching so I don't get hurt out there, now that I think about it."

"Omigosh," Mickie gasped as she placed her hands over her mouth. "Yes, please do. Don't get hurt! I would totally be your partner, Melina. I think we could kick serious butt together! If things don't work out, look me up okay?"

Melina just half-nodded and half-smiled. It wasn't like Mickie James was a bad choice of partner…, but again…after her thing with Trish, she wasn't sure she wanted to put herself in that position.

After Mickie skipped off, Melina noted the sound of some arguing nearby. It seemed Molly Holly and Maryse were not getting along too famously. After glancing over her shoulder…Mel casually…snuck closer to the duo and pretended to be getting a water bottle. The entire time she was eavesdropping.

"I get top billing! Do you know who I am?!" Molly shouted at Maryse as she pointed to her own chest. "I am a **real** Women's Champion! I am the **beauty** of this team, you're beautiful by association, got it?!"

"_Whatever…"_ Maryse rolled her eyes and put her hand up in front of Molly's face. "Molly…you are so lucky you amuse me. _Come on_…you…?" She motioned her hand from head to toe. "More beautiful than…" She flicked her platinum-blonde hair over her shoulder and pursed her lips firmly. "…_Moi?"_

"Listen Pepe LePue or whatever the hell your name is." Molly interrupted her while pointing in her face. "You live with me, you travel with me, you learn from me, and you will respect my accomplishments! Speak English, too!"

"…I am." Maryse suddenly looked lost.

Molly put her fist on her hip and shook her head. "What are you, Russian or something? Look, whatever. Listen Ryse-Cup , when you're my partner, you don't spend your time doing a stupid hair flip. You spend your time throwing people over the top rope, and making sure I get the last elimination in. We work as a unit, as one. I get to throw Victoria over the top too. No exceptions."

Maryse scoffed. "…Whatever…."

As Maryse's hand came up again, Molly smacked it aside and shouted. "What is this, 1992?! Stop that! It's stupid! You're-…"

Molly paused as she saw Velvet Sky and Angelina Love…who were known as **The Beautiful People** walk by…having a bit of a laugh over the arguing women.

Molly and Maryse both lowered their eyebrows at the passing women…and once they were out of earshot…Molly _and_ Maryse spoke at the same time.

"_They're getting eliminated first."_

As Melina was backing away, she nearly ran into Isis the Amazon and the rather…gothic looking Daffney walking by her. Since she didn't exactly want a confrontation right now, Melina continued on her way, but the partners watched her for a bit longer, and she could feel their eyes burning holes on the back of her head. The two of them seemed like a mis-match, but the mix of Daffney's experience and Isis' power and willingness to learn just felt extremely dangerous to her.

Something inside was just willing her away from them to keep herself from looking like the weak link in any opposition examining the two were doing.

She saw Sarita and Kharma, and the two were isolated from the rest of the teams. They seemed entirely at peace with one another sitting side by side on some of the prop crates in the back. The two of them were just as vicious if not more than any other team in present company. However, before Melina could take another step in their direction to head toward the entry way where she was sure John would be returning through any minute now, she was stopped when someone grabbed her wrist.

"Mel!" Shelly called out to her as she spun her partner around. "There you are! I've been lookin' all over for you chica!" Shelly was dressed to compete with her cut off T-Shirt that had her photograph and name across it. It exposed her abdomen and had a generous cut in the top to allow her cleavage breathing room. Around her hips she had on a black pair of short trunks with skull designs along them with a thick belt fastened around her hips. Of course, this made the perfect presentation for the tattoo on her lower stomach.

Melina was dumbfounded. She curled the knuckle on her right index finger and rapidly rubbed it against her ear as if she was unclogging it. "_I'm-sorry-what?"_

Shelly held her arms out and awaited a hug that never came. Rather than awkwardly stand there, she kept talking. "I was waitin' for you down at the _thing!_ Remember, we were supposed to get ready, girl! Where you been?"

"I've been waiting for you since -…!"

Melina was cut off as Shelly threw a hug around her, continuing to draw attention to the two of them with how loudly she spoke. "_Heeyyy_! Haha! Hey," She pulled back and shook Melina by her shoulders. "What's important is that we're together now and we're ready for this match!" Shelly clinched her teeth and spoke lower so Melina could hear her. "Now let's talk strategy and _get the hell out of here!"_

Before Melina could react to Shelly's odd behavior, she was pulled into a semi-headlock and dragged off away from the others and closer toward one of the less populated areas around the catering tables where some fruits were sitting in a large basket.

Mel pushed Shelly off of her and brought both her hands up to fix her long black hair. As the curtain of lovely hair was parted, Melina's expression was equally confused as she was annoyed. "Okay…_okay_. What…in the hell is going on with you?"

Shelly grabbed two of the green apples and took a bite out of one as Melina talked. Of course ,she was chewing it rather obnoxiously until she was done. "You're tryin' to get us disqualified by saying I didn't show."

"_You're trying to get us disqualified!"_ Melina gave a hushed yell at her partner while poking her on the chest with a single finger.

Shelly offered the second apple to her partner, but Melina snatched it and placed it back in the basket of fruit. Instead of start a fuss about the rejected apple, Miss Martinez began explaining the situation. "I was trying to get us a win. I spent a lot of time hanging out with our competition. Then I spent time in the laundry mat with my phone, watching all of their matches on Youtube. I'm a student of the game…, playing this smart."

"Playing it _smart_ is training and working hard! Sitting and watching videos isn't going to make you wrestle better..!" Melina was getting a feeling she should just go hunt down Mickie James…but the big match was going to start as soon as John's was over. There was no time…

Melina began taking deep breaths as Shelly seemed absolutely fine with her methods in approaching the match.

As Mel was keeping her anger intact, Shell swallowed another big chunk of her apple and spoke with a slap to her partner's shoulder. "You worry too much. You act like this is just you going in there alone! _Trust me_, I got your back."

Shelly's word was going to be put to the test, as within seconds of her speech, John Morrison was victorious in his match. The only sore spot Melina has was the fact that she_ missed_ his big win, but immediately the excitement of competing in the ring again overtook her. The feeling was comparable to leaving a sauna and falling right into a freezing cold pool; the rush was refreshing but at the same time incredibly terrifying.

From the moment J-Mo came through the curtains in the back, Melina knew they only had seconds to get ready to rock. She spent only a couple seconds with John – of course giving him a big hug on his successful match despite how sweaty he was. Once the announcer introduced the Diva's Battle Royal and its rules, Melina and Shelly were given a number for their entry. They were number fifteen, close to dead last to enter the ring.

All of the entrances had to be fast…they were going to start the match with an overly crowded ring. Each entrance took around…twelve seconds at most, and Melina was sure over half of them were blanketed by commercial breaks **as usual**. However, this particular situation was highly understandable.

When Melina and Shelly's time came, she heard the familiar riffs of her old theme song and immediately got in her zone. She emerged from the back as if she'd practiced every step for hours, and Shelly oddly enough shared a similar gait. No red carpet or paparazzi this time, but Melina still struck her dramatic pose at the height of the ramp, and Shelly well…she did _her_ thing. It was a little less PG with her Sable-worthy grinding in the air while stroking her hands down over her frame.

However, accidental or not, the two stepped forward at the exact same time and maintained an even pace. Melina pointed out over the crowd to the many hands reaching out for her. She moved to the side of the ramp to tag a couple of hands, but Shelly had her eyes trained on the other teams in the ring with her lips puckered out and her dark lined eyelids lowered. While Melina was being the show-woman of the two, Shelly was as serious as Lance Storm in a staring contest.

There was no time for Melina to do her trademark split, so the two women climbed into the ring and under the middle rope to join the anxious and nervous females waiting on the last entrants.

Shelly and Melina stayed in the center of the pack of she-wolves, as each corner had been occupied by teams, and even along the ropes. There was no safe place in the ring, but arguably Melina and Shelly were the safest as they were near no ring ropes at the time being.

The last entrants were Mio and Io Shirai – the Japanese sisters who were wasting no time to run down to the ring. They both hopped onto the apron, then flung their bodies up onto the top ropes. The young women dove into the ring and delivered a cross body attack into the crowd!

The bell sounded – and Melina was taken down as Io Shirai landed on her as well as Maryse and Tamina. All Melina could hear was the rumbling of the ring and the roar of the crowd as the brawl broke out. It was absolute chaos – the ring was packed end from end and all the women were just swinging at whatever moved!

Once Melina got up, she felt one of the infamous **stiff** kicks from Mio Shirai right into her stomach. It felt like all of the air shot out of her lungs as she doubled over. The next thing she knew she was on the mat again after Mio's shin smacked her over the side of the head.

Seeing her partner was in danger, Shelly pulled herself away from chopping Shaul Guerrero across her chest to assist Melina. "Mel!" She shouted out as she dove over a toppled Maryse to crack her forearm over the head of Mio. Shelly's success didn't last long, however, as she was soon clubbed in the back by Naomi Night and taken down!

Melina gained her wits about herself…and a wild swing of her arm clobbered Ric Flair's daughter Charlotte across the jaw. Feeling lucky, Melina noticed a vulnerable target in Shaul Guerrero who had been on the wrong side of Isis' fist. Mel charged her and slammed her forearm across her chest to clothesline her clean over the top and to the outside!

Elimination number one was made! "_Shaul and Charlotte Flair are eliminated!"_ The announcer called once the official clarified both her feet hit the ground. Not three seconds after the elimination, Naomi Night managed to hike Maria from the turnbuckle to the outside of the ring as well!

The buzzer sounded and the announcer spoke. "_Maria and Lena Yada are Eliminated!"_

Shelly's heart was pounding in her chest. She was regretting not hitting the gym already, as she was feeling like taking a five minute break to get her head in the game. People were throwing fists left and right, and Shelly ended up having a short conversation with Ayako Hamada's forehead after a vicious head-butt.

Dazed and confused, Shelly backed into a corner…and was immediately pounced by AJ Lee! The small woman was all over her with Hamada, trying to hike Shelly up over the corner!

"Mel!" Shelly called out as she saw her partner focusing on trading forearm shots with Sereena across the ring.

The buzzer sounded again – Tamina had successfully caught Io Shirai in mid-leap and dumped her clean over the top! The impact was violent and _loud_ most of all with the younger of the sisters shouting in pain.

"_The Shirai Sisters are eliminated!"_ The announcer called out.

Shelly felt like her name was going to be next as she was lifted up over the top turnbuckle. She grabbed the ring ropes and held on tightly. "_MEL!"_ She called louder in hopes to penetrate the cheers and reactions from the fans.

Melina finally got free of her battle with Sereena and rushed across the ring best she could to assist Shelly. She pulled AJ Lee off, and got the taste punched out of her mouth as a reward from Miss Lee. With her jaw aching, Melina staggered away and met backs with Kharma, who was currently squeezing the life out of Victoria.

Shelly tried kicking at Hamada, but she had a good grip on her, and all she needed was better leverage to eliminate Shell! "_Melina! You gonna help or what?!"_

While Mel was trying to fight off the wild and rowdy AJ, Shelly pulled a trick out of the ol' Ric Flair book and popped her thumb against Hamada's eye while…no one was looking of course! When the woman backed off, Shelly hopped back down on the mat. She rushed to Mel's aid and yanked AJ off of her by the hair. AJ's head went right beneath Shelly's arm and she was spiked down suddenly with a DDT right near the corner of the ring!

Molly Holly's voice was heard nearby as she shouted. _"Get over the ropes, fat ass!"_ She said just seconds before the buzzer went off again! She'd tossed Beth Phoenix over the top! "Woo! I'm the best! I'm the freaking greatest!" She turned around with her arms up and fingers pointed in the air.

Just as the announcer relayed the elimination of the Divas of Doom, Molly was put down by a clothesline from one half of the Beautiful People, Angelina Love.

It was sheer chaos in the ring still, but things were moving fast. **Twenty Four** Women were left in the ring, and despite Melina and Shelly successfully knocking AJ Lee down to the mat…they turned around to face the massive Kharma, who knocked the both of them down to the mat with a clothesline from each of her arms that sounded like they each got smacked down by the hands of God.

Melina folded up on the mat with her feet over her head, and Shelly curled into the fetal position beside her partner while coughing for air.

"Mel…seriously…"Shelly wheezed out a breath. "You can do that pose later with John when we win. "

"_You're real funny."_ Melina wheezed out as well as she rolled onto her side. "Okay, new game plan. Kharma and Isis. Get them the hell out."

"You take Kharma." Shelly started on her hands and knees. "I'll watch." By this time, Shell was in trouble as her vulnerable state got the attention of the beautiful vultures; Angelina Love and Velvet Sky.

Melina had no time to assist Shelly since she was getting pulled up to her feet by Christina Von Eerie. The punk rock princess had control over Melina and was dragging her toward the corner. Mel suffered a quick, but very furious beat-down in the corner until her arms hung loosely over the top ropes.

With a little bit of room cleared, Christina backed up and ran at full speed to try and cleave through Melina with a _spear_ into the turnbuckle.

Christina threw all of her weight toward Melina's abdomen, but somehow her shoulder felt nothing but air until…_PING!_ Christina's entire shoulder region felt like she'd tried to body slam Yokozuna after she collided with the ring post.

Melina was sitting split-legged on the top rope, having used her flexibility and agility to avoid contact with the blue-haired rocker. As Christina backed out of the corner, Melina put her legs back down on the mat. She grabbed the girl by the back of her hair and tossed her up and over the top! _Boom, _another elimination!

At the same time on the other side of the ring, Isis the Amazon had Victoria and Gail Kim by the throat in each hand! Both women were choke slammed over the top rope and to the outside mats!

"_Victoria and Gail Kim have been eliminated!"_ The announcer called after his report of MsChiff and Christina Von Eerie being eliminated from the contest.

Isis was amped up. Daffney, while she was standing on the throat of Maryse who was laid out under the bottom turnbuckle, shouted out commands to Isis. "That's right! Kill them! Just like I told you!" Her screams pierced through the roar of the audience, and let everyone in the ring know that the big woman was on a mission.

Sarita and Kharma took notice, but Kharma was seemingly vulnerable to the combined assault of Tamina and Jazz stomping her into the corner. Sarita was going toe to toe with_ both_ Bella Twins in the center of the ring. She chopped one, punched the other, then drove both of their heads together just as Isis had finished her most recent elimination.

Melina turned and walked right into a large boot to her face from Isis, and was staring up at the ceiling lights as more loud rumbles resounded as Isis claimed victims in her path. Mel placed her hand on her aching head…and heard the shrill scream of Daffney telling her to '_Kill_' Kana and Sereena.

Despite Sereena's best effort to spear Isis…she was too big. Sereena's shoulder rammed Isis' gut, but the Amazon coiled her arms around her waist quickly and picked her up off the ground. Kana attempted to assist her, but she was yanked to the ground by her hair once Daff was done with Maryse.

"..They're gonna be a problem…" Melina said to herself while taking this moment to recuperate.

The buzzer went off as Sereena was dumped over the top by the large woman.

The announcer relayed the official's call. "_Kana and Sereena have been eliminated!"_

Cameron Lynn, Naomi's partner didn't let Melina's breather last too long, but something happened that changed the landscape for the entire match. As Daffney celebrated early with her monster of a partner, Kharma and Sarita charged them both. Kharma clotheslined Isis and Sarita took Daffney and sent both women over the top ropes as punishment for their premature victory celebration.

"_Daffney and Isis have been eliminated!"_

As the announcer made it official, Daffney let out a **shrill** scream of anger into the air. The referees told her to return to the back…but she refused. She shoved one of the referees who was nearest to her in anger.

"I'll have you suspended if you touch me again!" The referee warned her with a stern point to her face.

As the action in the ring was going on, Daffney looked up to her recovering partner and pointed back in his face. "_Kill them __**all**__!"_ She grit her teeth as Isis now grabbed the referee by the throat! He was lifted and choke slammed down on the outside mats! This was repeated as the other official came to his aid, all while Daffney flipped the ring apron up! "Get something!" She said as she pointed beneath the apron. The gothic veteran stormed toward the commentary area and shoved the announcer aside to claim their chair. She slapped the chair shut…and since no one was present to officiate the match, she slid_ back_ into the ring. Isis climbed in as well, now holding a Singapore cane tightly in her grasp.

Shelly saw the entire scene unfold…and she was the first to 'greet' Daffney. "…Oh sh-…" _Crack!_ All the lights in Shelly's eyes went out as she hit the mat. She heard more cracking of steel, the thwack of the cane, and the groans and cheers of the crowd with each impact.

By the time Shelly came to fully, she saw that every woman in the ring except Isis and Daffney were out cold on the ground. The crowd applauded this and began to chant in favor of the two clearly extreme Divas. Daffney tossed her chair down, and barked more commands to her monster while she selected a victim.

She got two handfuls of Sarita's hair while Isis climbed out of the ring. Within a few seconds, a table was pushed into the ring by Isis. _Clearly_ this wasn't going to end well.

As the table was set up in the corner of the ring, Daffney 'fed' Sarita to Isis. The large woman clutched Sarita's throat and gave the 'Wonderful' Diva a reward for all of her charity – a choke slam into a table all for her!

The sickening crunch of the wood made Melina cringe as she clutched her lower back where Daffney struck her during her rampage. The crowd appreciated the actions of the two, but Melina hoped the 'killing spree' was over.

Referees and security were well on their way to the ring, but Daff and Isis split out and headed through the crowd. It didn't matter though; they definitely made their mark on the match and the tournament to come!

While everyone was trying to find their way back to their feet, the announcer informed the crowd that the match _will_ continue immediately despite the violent turn of events.

Shelly crawled to Melina and flopped down on her chest beside her partner. "_I'm dyin', Mel. Why'd I let you talk me into this?"_ She whined as her legs bent at the knees and dropped down on the mat repeatedly.

"_I didn't talk you into this!"_ Melina hissed silently. "_Get a hold of yourself! We need a plan!"_

"_I wanna go home…"_

"_Shh!"_ Melina peeked up to see The Beautiful People were the first ones up, and doing the smart move of trying to get Sarita up so they could eliminate her and Kharma. "Look…we have a good chance here to get some easy eliminations. We take out the power houses first, okay?"

"_I…I think I'm dead."_ Shelly was still loopy from the chair shot, and gasped! "…_I can't feel my face!"_

"Shut up!" Melina silently yelled at Shelly and reached up to smack her cheek once.

After the smack, Shelly immediately pinched Melina on the side of her torso and _twisted_ her wrist to make it hurt all the more!

Contorting in pain, Mel shoved Shelly off of her until the two rolled away form one another. There was a loud rumble as Kharma rushed across the ring and knocked down both members of the Beautiful People! The two blondes were clutched by their hair and brought to their feet. It was just long enough for Kharma to toss both of them over!

Now with Shelly and Melina up, they charged the rising Jazz and delivered a well-placed double drop kick to her chest to send the ECW Diva up and over the top! As the partners landed, Shelly slapped the mat with her palm.

"_WHY_ does it hurt more to land than the kick does?" Shelly silently complained as she and Mel got to their feet.

"Shut up and just fight like crazy!" Melina spoke quickly as they now worked in unison for the most part. "Flapjack!" Mel called out while Nikki Bella rushed them. The two ducked down and claimed each of the Twin's legs and hoisted her high in the air. They wanted to eliminate her, but instead she landed chest first across the top rope!

The brawling erupted as almost all the women, except Sarita, were up and at it again at a slightly sluggish pace due to the chair shots prior.

Cameron Lynn was thrown over the top by Maryse soon after the fighting started to liven up. The cocky Molly Holly was working on AJ Lee nearby, but a sudden high kick to the side of her head from Hamada sent Molly onto the top rope half-dead from the looks of it!

Brie Bella was tossed out of the ring by Shelly and Melina who were sticking close together, and their behavior was mimicked by AJ and Hamada, who worked together to toss Molly's carcass over the top and to the outside.

**Now it was down to the final teams;** AJ Lee and Hamada, Melina and Shelly, and Kharma with the barely rising Sarita.

Tensions were rising as Shelly and Melina backed into a corner to face the two remaining teams.

"…Kharma, right?" Shelly said as she caught her breath. Her breathing was vastly more labored that Melina's, since she hadn't trained **at all**.

"…Yeah, Kharma." Melina patted Shelly on her back. "…I'll watch."

"…I'll grab that chair." Shelly noticed the bent steel chair near the back ropes, but so did AJ Lee. Nobody wanted to make the first move, but with Kharma protecting Sarita, everyone had to focus on the big woman due to her extreme power advantage.

Melina rushed Kharma first, but was taken down by a single punch. Hamada was next and she shared a similar fate. AJ Lee chose a different path; she snuck behind Kharma and went to work beating away at Sarita to get her near the ropes.

Shelly on the other hand fulfilled her goal and stole the steel chair. As Kharma was on her way toward her…**BANG!** A steel chair cracked her right in the shoulder! As she backed off and favored her shoulder, Shelly stuck her tongue out. "Hey! Kool-Aid!" She mocked the woman as she drew the chair back up…

**POP!** Kharma punched the chair right back into Shelly's face when she attempted to swing it, effectively putting the woman's lights out **instantly!**

AJ was set to eliminate Sarita, but as she went to knock her over the ropes, the Canadian veteran ducked down and pulled the ropes. AJ flipped over the top but landed on the apron. Ever the quick one, AJ was standing up on the apron facing Sarita's back. What she _didn't_ see, was Hamada charging Sarita head on!

The injured diva dove aside and caused Hamada to collide with AJ who fulfilled the 'go over the top rope' side of the elimination process. The impact sent AJ off the apron and in turn eliminated the team of Hamada and AJ, much to Hamada's horror and AJ's fury!

With another team down, the match was left down to StocKharma and S n' M. The crowd was abuzz as the four women…_well_…two women since Sarita and Shelly were both on the mat, were now facing off. Melina had the opportunity to prove herself as a singles star once again…at least in her mind.

Despite her enthusiasm, Melina's rush forward was comparable to a Tonka Truck going full speed downhill to a brick wall. The wall had no give; and in return Kharma wasn't budged by anything Melina did. It became a slugfest quickly, and this was not something Mel could beat Kharma at! The shots rocked her backward toward the ropes, but then Melina used her head – her right leg shot out and kicked Kharma at the side of her knee!

The first shot made her cringe, but the second, third, and fourth shot progressively made her back up toward the middle of the ring and down to one knee.

With the powerhouse cut down to size, Melina hit the ropes she jumped up with both of her feet going straight to her face. The front dropkick was effective; with Kharma falling onto her back, Melina had a chance to follow up as soon as she was back on her feet!

With adrenaline rushing through her body, Melina trained her sights **solely** on Kharma. She pulled her black-and-blonde braids in both of her hands to urge the monster to her feet. Once she was on one knee again, Mel rushed the opposing ropes to gain momentum again.

All the air was knocked out of her lungs after she was caught in the waiting arms of Kharma and drilled spine first into the mat with a spinning sidewalk slam that she was pretty sure shook the entire ring. The crowd's support was behind Kharma now, and Mel was scrunched up on the mat with absolutely no momentum. She wasn't even thinking about Shelly; she was sure both her and Sarita were still out cold. This was her duty, it was her time, and it was _her_ challenge.

Despite her willingness to continue, her body did not respond to her mind's urges. Kharma's weight may have been the thing most people thought of first when slammed to the mat by her…but it was her **power** that was the icing on the cake. She moved like a monster, and it was never easy to compete against her unless on your absolute **A** game!

Kharma's gloved hands wrapped around Melina's head and drew her to her knees. The crowd was reacting to the pending end of the match, and Mel was waiting for the perfect opportunity. The Eddie Guerrero handbook stated in rule #3; always wait for the opportunity to exploit a weakness, and that was what Mel was doing as her head was stuffed between the legs of the larger woman and her waist was being latched by the strong arms.

Mel was lifted up with ease in a power bomb position, and she rotated her arms out on either side of herself to try and get momentum to counter as Kharma approached the ropes. Her left hand gripped the top of the woman's head and the right began to rain down on her with rapid strikes to try and throw off the monstrous woman's focus.

Melina leaned back once she had the proper momentum, and draped her lower shoulders on the top rope while hooking her arm in the top rope. Her ankles crossed behind Kharma's head as she leaned back and used all of the strength she had left to drag Kharma over the top rope and spilled to the outsi-…!

The elimination buzzer went off!

Melina sat on the apron with her hand on the top rope as she looked down to the behemoth she just overcame. She was beaten up, tired, and excited to have made her mark on the match…

"_Shelly Martinez and Melina…"_

Melina held her other arm up in victory…!

"_Have been eliminated!"_

Once the announcer said that, Melina looked into the ring with wide eyes. She saw Sarita draped over the top rope after tossing the knocked out body of Shelly over to the outside.

Melina was furious as StocKharma gained the victory. She hopped off the apron and moved around the outside of the ring to confirm her suspicion. She caught her breath while both her hands held her hips. She saw Shelly laying out cold on the protective mats. She knew Shell couldn't go the distance, she knew she was going to hold her back, so instead of help her up…Melina turned her back and headed toward the locker room in complete disappointment…

**Notes:** If I can avoid it…I'm going to try not to do a Royal Rumble type match again. It was a little more difficult than a normal 'fight' scene. When it got down to two teams I was able to make it feel more like a 'match', but otherwise it was 'a_ lot_ of right punches' as Hugo Weaving said to describe his fights in The Matrix Reloaded.

Anyway, setting up the tournament brackets, and I will not be doing each match individually. I'm focusing on Shelly and Melina's journey after all! I hope you enjoyed the cameo from Mickie James – I may have a second story in the works (which is why some divas like McCool, Layla, Trish, etc are missing from this story.) Other than that, I just love being able to toss Mickie in, since my interpretation of her character is pretty fun.

Also, the Rumble doesn't really do anyone's wrestling style justice, but I'll try to get more of 'them' in their individual battles coming up. Do you think S n' M can go the distance? Find out next time on… Dragon…ball…_**Z**_!

...Oh wait.


	4. Counter-Twin Magic

**Disclaimer: **I do not own, know, or represent anyone from any real world wrestling organization. This is just a fan fiction, and the portrayal, likeness, etc are just character depictions and in no way represent the actual personalities of the men and women in the stories. It's just a little story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
><strong>Chapter 4; Counter-Twin-Magic<strong>

**There were weeks left until the Royal Rumble…**, and Melina had not said a single word to Shelly since the big battle royal yesterday. Shelly _tried_ to talk to her, but Mel kept her distance as much as possible. She was informed by Booker T that despite their failure to produce a promotional video, they were still going to be allowed to compete in the tournament. That was a good thing, but her proposal to have a replacement partner was turned down due to the need of Shelly's signature as well. She needed to sign off on leaving the tournament, and Melina knew that was not going to happen.

Furthermore, the two of them had to travel together from Los Angeles to Seattle to prepare for next week's Smackdown. Thank goodness they were not obligated to participate in the non-televised events due to each woman's need to prepare for the big tournament and be in perfect sync and health.

Rather than share a hotel room with Shelly, Melina opted to stay in the rental car and sleep. She couldn't go to John's room – he was assigned to a different hotel entirely, and Shelly decided that she was going to take the keys with her to the room to make sure she had a ride tomorrow.

Mel was in a deep sleep for several hours bundled up in the back seat of the rental rather uncomfortably, but she got some much needed rest none the less.

She dreamed she was on a boat sailing over the vast ocean and towards the WWE Championship which was the size of a mountain. On the shores in front of the mountainous title, there was Randy Orton and John Cena brawling in…loin cloths for some reason. As the two men wrestled in the sandy shores, J-Mo appeared literately out of _nowhere_ with a moonsault to topple them both down.

Things started getting weird from there when Sable appeared next with a steel chair and smacked Orton over the back with it. When Randy went down, Sable pulled Morrison over to her and power bombed him through a table that seemed to magically appear.

The ship was going faster now, and Melina, who was now dressed like some odd cross-over between Wonder Woman and Captain America, decided to call forth her Star-Logoed Shield and prepare to throw it at Sable.

The dream felt so real, especially the speed and bumpy waves beneath the massive…pirate ship…that she…was on.

Now she was realizing it was a dream, and the entire 'reality' she created was breaking apart. Especially when the mountain cracked open with the sound of Shelly's voice echoing through her imaginary world.

"_I think I'm cute!"_ Shelly's voice echoed.

"…Oh no." Melina watched on in disappointment as she was stirred to wake up.

"_I know I'm sexy!"_ As Melina woke up, she saw Shelly in the driver's seat with one knee on the bottom of the steering wheel and a tall chilled coffee in her right hand topped with whipped cream with a green straw protruding from the top. "_I've got the looks! That drives~ the boys~ wild!"_ She rolled her shoulders as she continued along what was apparently a highway of some sort. Shelly was belting out an above-average version of Shawn Michael's theme song while 'driving'. She was also having entirely too much of a good time.

Melina groaned as she tried to cover her head with her pillow. "…Take me back to the hotel, Shelly."

"You're finally talking to me now?" Shelly looked back at Melina for a second, finally lowering her left leg and took hold of the wheel with her left hand as well. "But you're hiding still. So, til you're ready to talk, we're still going where I wanna go."

"…I'm not hiding." Mel sighed.

"_When it comes crashin' down and it hurts inside!"_ Shelly started singing again, this time, it was Hulk Hogan's old theme song. "_You gotta take a stand, it don't help to hide! If you hurt my friends, then you hurt my pride!"_ Then Shelly added her own lyrics. "_Brie Bella's a man! I can't let it slide! I wanna be a tag champ~ion! But Mel~ina's not very in! I wanna be a tag champ~ion! Yeah that's right! Tot-tall-lee psyched!"_

Melina pulled the pillow off of her head and clutched it firmly. She wanted to throw it at Shelly, but she thought ahead enough to know that could lead to a fatal car crash. She instead rolled over onto her side and kept low against the seat so that she would not be seen and stir any watching police to pull them over.

"Can you cut the singing, Shell?" Melina was clearly agitated at this point. "You do _not_ want to be a tag champion, okay?" Melina's words prompted Shelly to stop singing. Mel was shocked, but she kept trying to drive her point home. "We had that match won. If you would have been smart you wouldn't have gone for that chair. You shouldn't have tried to duke it out with Kharma _at all_. You cost us the match, and now we're not looking good as a unit in everyone's eyes. You didn't train, you made us look bad by not being on time to do our video, and if you checked the website at any point, we are number seven in the tag team rankings! _Seven_! We're not even top five of sixteen! We are almost in the bottom half!"

Shelly remained quiet.

After a few moments, Melina continued. "So, please. Take me back to the hotel so I can get ready for _my_ training day and focus on whatever we have ahead of us. That is, if you're not planning on dropping out because you're holding your _partner_ back."

"First of all, I was knocked out cold." Shelly defended herself a bit. "It wasn't my fault we lost. Anyone could have lost that, Mel. Secondly and most importantly, I told you I'm playing this smart." She glanced at Melina from the rear-view window. "I'm sorry, okay? I messed up."

"..It's fine…" Melina said half-heartedly. "Can we go back to the hotel now? Where…are we anyway?"

Shelly paused for a moment as she began taking the exit to get back into the city. "We're on the way to the hotel." She clicked her tongue over her teeth and took a sip from her iced coffee treat. "I got the tournament brackets in my e-mail this morning. Next Smackdown!, we're going against the Brie and Nikki Basham." Shelly made a small, obscure joke in reference to the 'male version' of the Bellas from the mid 2000's. "So I did a little research like I mentioned. First form of warfare is finding the enemy's weakness!" Shelly paused. "…I think."

Melina was intrigued now. "What's their weakness? I've beaten them before. Wasn't…_that_ hard." She twisted her lips as she stared at the side of her partner's head from her 'backseat bed'.

"There is some tension in Bella-land." Shelly explained. "Nikki…I _think_ she's the one with J-Cena. There's some tension there about old exes of his popping up. She gets distracted easily with personal matters and sometimes she even skips out on training sessions with her sister. Brie on the other hand, is the more…responsible of the two. She's the accountant of the team and she pays in cash when they rent out private space to train and work-out together. Her Achilles heel is the fact that she can't trust Nikki with ten cents; she'll spend any dollar or card she gets her hands on. When Nikki steals cash…uh..._borrows_ some money…Brie gets royally P-O'd. I'm talkin' to the point it gets on Twitter here. Clearly the internet is _serious_ bid-ness, Mel."

Melina wasn't sure how Shelly got this information, but she did say before that she was a 'student of the game'. Maybe, _just maybe_ she was telling the truth. "I'm not seeing how that's going to help us in a match."

Shell grinned like she had an orange slice in her mouth. "Leave it to Shelly 'Hit Woman' Martinez, Mel." Shortly after she finished speaking…she took a sip of her coffee. As the adrenaline rushed through her, she made a loud screeching noise like a long guitar riff…and began 'singing' the original theme song of Bret 'Hit Man' Hart as obnoxiously as she possibly could.

"_Oh…my…god."_ Melina covered her head with the pillow again, praying for mercy and a speedy arrival to the hotel.

After a few minutes of driving, they finally arrived in the parking lot of the rather fancy high-end hotel. It was a lot better than Melina remembered, but she wasn't going to complain. Despite being in her pajama pants and Matt Hardy '**I WILL NOT DIE!**' T-Shirt…with her fuzzy Hello Kitty slippers included, she walked into the lobby as if it was her own house. Shelly carried Melina's bags inside and headed straight to the elevator.

Once they reached the fourth floor, Shelly walked them right to their room, room 412.

Shelly dropped the bags beside the door and took a deep breath as she fidgeted with the key she had. "Hey, Mel? Is that Batista over there?" She squinted as she looked down the hall and away from the door.

"Wha?" Melina snapped around immediately and saw no one in the hall at all. She also heard a loud crash as the door was seemingly broken open by Shelly. "What the hell?!" She turned back to her partner with wide eyes.

Shelly was holding the door knob and removed the key to slip back into her pocket. "What? The door gets jammed sometimes, I was told." Shelly did a good job at blocking out the door frame from Melina's sight…so that she wouldn't see that the door had been _kicked_ open.

Melina stepped inside and cupped a yawn in her hand. "Gonna take a shower. Be back in a bit." Melina grabbed her bags and pulled a few items out for her shower and headed straight into the bathroom.

"Take your time, Melly." Shelly said sweetly as she shut the door best she could behind her.

After her shower, Melina dried off and got dressed for the day. She had plans on doing some cardio work today so she didn't wear anything too heavy. Her coat would have to do if it got chillier during the day. As she did the finishing touches on putting her ponytail in a scrunchie…she heard Shelly yelling at the top of her voice…

"_Hahaha! I'm rich, bitch!"_

Melina departed from the bathroom with her old things and walked right to her bag to put them away. She saw Shelly putting down one of the mattresses inside the room while stuffing stacks of money into her shirt and pockets. She was smiling like Cody Rhodes looking at his own reflection. _Clearly_ she was excited about her money.

"…Uh…what's going on?" Melina finally got the nerve to ask once her bag was zipped up. Her eyes noticed the damaged door frame…and slowly her eyes shifted back to Shelly. "...Shelly…why is there money under the mattress?"

Shelly finally put the last of the stacks of hundreds into her shirt and cackled. "_This is the Bella's room. Not even our hotel."_

Melina…

…

.. Had a miniature heart attack right then and there. Her face got red and her breathing started to intensify greatly over the following three seconds. "_I'm-sorry-__**What?!**__"_

"Causing a rift between 'em so they're unfocused on Smackdown!" Shelly explained with sheer excitement in her voice. "Okay, get your stuff," She spoke while fixing the bed she just thoroughly searched for the cash. "And let's get the hell out of here."

Melina wasn't sure if she was still dreaming or not, but she knew for certain this experience was rapidly becoming a nightmare. "Shelly! This is a crime!" Even though the words of disbelief left her mouth she was quickly gathering her bag to get as far away from the room as possible. "I just took a shower in there! They could be back any minute now!"

Shelly swung the door open and motioned for her partner to hurry along. "Don't worry. We were never here."

"_They have security cameras, Shelly!"_ Melina argued while thinking of her career going down the drain.

"It's just good T.V." Shelly giggled while dragging Melina out into the hall while shutting the door best she could behind her.

"_This-is-a-crime!"_ Melina fussed back silently. She wanted to run as far away from Shelly as possible now. She could already see herself going to prison in the same fashion Shelly did before they reunited.

Shelly grabbed Melina by her shoulders and shook her firmly. "_Last night_ someone entered our assigned hotel room and trashed it before we arrived. When I opened the door, all kinds of crap was spray painted on the walls, and threats were left pinned to the door. Thanks to the more than generous front desk man, I found out that two twins asked about our room just an hour before we checked in. I did the math, and here I am." She released Melina, keeping an intense gaze on her. "They ate the little chocolates the hotels leave on the pillows too, Mel. **This means war**."

It was at that very moment that Melina was starting to realize Shelly may have just been a genius or an absolute idiot. She wasn't sure if she was telling the truth but she looked serious enough about it. If the Bellas were trying to shake them up before the tournament, it was good to show them that their tactics were not going to disrupt their success.

"_Those motherf-.."_ Melina was interrupted when she felt a rather…tall presence behind her. Shelly's eyes were wide as she looked up at the person towering behind Mel.

It took a lot of courage, but slowly Melina turned to come face-to-chest with the demonic Kane.

He, of course, was dressed in his ring attire as he normally was unless attending one of his many weekly dates with people he'd met online or perhaps a talk show of some sort. The masked man looked down to the two women with a grin on his face and a deep chuckle bellowing from his powerful chest.

"Good morning, ladies." Kane spoke as Shelly and Melina flinched back away from him. "I couldn't help but notice your quarrel that transpired just moments prior to my advent. Is everything satisfactory in your union?"

Melina cleared her throat and began coughing into her fist. She ducked behind Shelly and pushed her forward to deal with Kane.

"_Uh_…" Shelly tried to fix her hair up quickly. She figured that humoring Kane with conversation may give them leeway to escape. "Yeah, everything's cool. We're in a hurry so…"

Kane smiled and slowly nodded. "…It's fine. I understand." He did not budge just yet. He continued looking down to the two of them. "If you are at all interested, I am hosting a classic movie marathon in my hotel room today. I've sent several invitations. It is a fantastic opportunity for us as a locker room to bond over cinema...and freshly baked frozen pizza."

Melina spoke up with a single finger raised. "Thank you so much, Kane. Shelly and I are _really_ busy today though. We're uh…training today."

Once again, Kane's smile returned to his masked face. "Perhaps after I list the cinematic epics, you will reconsider my offer. Today will begin with a viewing of the critically acclaimed Double Dragon on crisp VHS, followed by the smash hit Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Following these films we will view current classics such as The Chaperone and Spider-Man Three, and we will complete our adventure with a Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson film from my collection followed by the international action classic… Dragonball Evolution…" Feeling proud of his selection, Kane chuckled. "Twelve hours of pure classic entertainment…"

Both Melina and Shelly were wide eyed at the…'unique' selection Kane had planned for the day. The two women responded with "Pass" at the same time.

Rapid footsteps approached from behind the women, as former champion, Mickie James wrapped her arms around the now screaming Melina from behind.

"_Omigosh_! Yew guys!" Mickie had her billion dollar grin on her face. Again, to Melina, Mickie's words sounded a little different than anyone else probably heard. "Shelly! Hey!" She released Melina, then threw an overly tight and slightly uncomfortable hug on Miss Martinez as well. "Yew too, Kane!" For Kane, Mickie jumped up and clung to him while he simply stood there accepting the embrace.

Once Mickie was down, she draped her arms around the shoulders of Shelly and Melina. "I'm here, Shelly! Just like you asked!"

"_Excuse-me-what?"_ Melina said as she now turned her eyes onto her partner.

"_Yeeeah~!_" Shelly had another plan that Melina wasn't informed of. Then again, she hoped they would be long gone before Mickie arrived. "I'm glad too! 'Cause Kane here was having a big movie party and we can't make it…"

"_Omigosh_," Mickie cupped her hands over her mouth. "That's tonight?! I better bring The Marine!"

"That would make it fourteen hours…" Kane said with a slight sigh. "It's one of my personal favorites. The fact John was not nominated for an Oscar is pure robbery. Perhaps we can fit it in before Dragonball Evolution…"

Melina silently tugged at Shelly's sleeve to try and sneak off. Things…got a little worse though.

Shelly saw Nikki and John Cena exiting the elevators. Quickly, Shelly pulled Melina back and leaned against the door frame to hide the fact it was smashed up a little bit.

"Omigosh, Jawn!" Mickie screamed out at the top of her lungs as she rushed the large man and jumped into his arms similar to how she did Kane just moments prior. The only difference was that she threw a deep, passionate kiss to his lips that had Nikki Bella in a completely understandable uproar.

"What the hell?!" Nikki shouted as she yanked Mickie off of the now clearly petrified leader of the Cenation. "What are _you_ doing here?!"

Mickie had a wide smile on her face, as if she was a fan meeting her favorite wrestler of all time. She was hopping up and down as she looked at Nikki with wide nearly deranged eyes. "Kane's having a big movie night! _Jawn_ said that if we won last night, which we did, he'd hang out with me! So, we're going to be at the big party later! You're coming too, right?" She stopped jumping just to gaze endlessly into Nikki's eyes. Despite her smile, she was challenging Nikki for territory.

Sensing the fight preparing to break out, Cena spoke with his arm around Nikki's shoulders. "Uh…of course she is!" His charm was turned on instantly. "Wouldn't have it any other way. We're always doing things together and…what-knot."

"Great!" Mickie clapped her hands. "Tew bad Shelly and Melina can't make it. They called me _all the way over here_ to invite me to a party I was already going tew!"

That was when Cena's eyes darted over to the partially hiding tag-team. "Right." John turned his attention to Nikki then. "Let's uh…go see about that thing I was talking about before we come back here, okay?" It was of course just code for 'lets get the hell out of here'.

Nikki agreed and started to depart from the overly-eager Mickie James who was waving with both of her hands.

While Kane's back was turned, Melina and Shelly were sharing a silent…wide-mouthed laugh. They were doubled over as Cena stared at them.

Shelly held her stomach as she stood up straight…then she gave him a firm salute…! Immediately after her hand touched her forehead, both hands went into the air and came down with a good ol' D-Generation X worthy crotch chop in his direction!

That motion elicited a louder laugh from Melina that caused Kane to turn around. Once he glanced at the two women, they were standing by idly as if they were checking their nails rather nonchalantly. Once he turned away…the two women fled out of the hallway laughing silently still.

Melina was certain then Shelly was in fact a genius. Not only did she successfully anger Nikki Bella, but she condemned her to a possible night of hanging out with Mickie James and Kane if Cena lived up to his word. What Melina didn't connect just yet was the fact Shelly drove a deeper wedge between the Bellas by taking the money Brie was holding away from her sister. It was possible that Brie may have thought Nikki 'borrowed' from her again. That was, if Shelly's logic proved effective…despite the fact they were recorded and such documentation could be accessed anywhere.

Melina _seriously_ was starting to consider how bad things could backfire on them as they drove back to their real hotel. In fact, she face-palmed herself when she realized that Shelly's plot wasn't going to in any way shake the Bellas up.

They still had some serious training to do as well!

…

…

Oh well…, _at least_ they had a _little_ fun.

[==== ===== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== === ]

**A/N:** Here's the tournament bracket!

**ROUND 1**

SnM (Shelly and Melina) vs The Bella Twins

The Shirai Sisters (Mio and Io Shirai) vs AJ Lee and Ayako Hamada

Sereena Deeb and Kana vs Molly and Maryse

Daffney and Isis The Amazon vs Christina Von Eerie and MsChiff

Naomi Night and Cameron Lynn vs Shaul Guerrero and Charlotte Flair

Jazz and Tamina vs Gail Kim and Victoria

StocKharma vs Divas of Doom (Beth Phoneix and Natalya)

The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky and Angelina Love) vs Maria and Lena Yada.

Just having a _little_ fun before the action returns. Shelly and Melina may not be perfect just yet but there is hope they can get on the same page in the ring! Will Shelly's plan shatter the Bella Twins?! Find out next time on Dragonball…Z!

..Oh wait. Wrong story again.


	5. Payback

**Disclaimer: **I do not own, know, or represent anyone from any real world wrestling organization. This is just a fan fiction, and the portrayal, likeness, etc are just character depictions and in no way represent the actual personalities of the men and women in the stories. It's just a little story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
><strong>Chapter 5; Payback<strong>

The days that followed the sabotage attempt were mostly peaceful. Shelly and Melina did face some fines from the Hotel the Bellas stayed at, and there was a bit of news that drove Melina away from trusting her partner once again.

What was the news? Well, let's say for example that you were given a phone call by your best friend that they spotted your significant other swapping spit with someone else. Your friend is your most trusted resource and you take what they say to heart. Your significant other is supposed to be out of town for the weekend, but you are now hearing about where they really are; also it's at a place you two could never afford. Immediately, you assume the person they're seeing makes more money than you, and that makes you feel even worse.

You're left enraged and refuse to speak to your significant other until they come home at the end of the weekend. However, when they get home, you learn that not only were they not with someone else, but they were indeed out of town doing a recorded presentation that happened at the exact same time that your best friend said they spotted them. So you go to youtube to see the presentation, and you are at a crossroads. Either your best friend lied to inspire you to break up, your significant other was prepared for their lie, or they are telling the truth.

A very elaborate set-up right? Now, forget all of that and let's see what Melina discovered the morning of the following week's **Smackdown** taping!

**THREE WEEKS UNTIL THE ROYAL RUMBLE… DALLAS, TEXAS**

"Melina."

Shelly's voice broke the silence of the dark hotel room.

"What?" Melina was barely awake, but she answered her tag partner none the less.

"Do we have to train again?" Shelly whined, as she rubbed her sore stomach in the darkness. She'd been doing sit-ups like a maniac to try and tighten up her abdomen, but she was saying 'to hell with it' lately to spare herself the soreness.

"We do." Melina was sore all over as well, but it was all going to pay off. She hugged her pillow to her cheek and pulled her sleeping 'sunglasses' off of her face and glared at the alarm clock inside the room. "It's five A.M. We gotta get down to the arena in a few hours and work on some more cardio."

"Don't we gotta rest so we don't break our bodies?" Shelly whined again while cuddling up to Melina's side like a spoiled child. "I got a bad back, I need to rest at least a day before a match."

"One more minute of sleep." Melina sighed while starting to sit up in bed. "I'm not too anxious to get back to sleep after the nightmare I had."

"Wasn't as bad as mine." Shelly chuckled while rolling over in the darkness again.

Melina tested this theory and fumbled around to turn on the light. "I had a nightmare that Brock Lesnar beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania before me."

"Ha! That's pretty stupid." Shelly chuckled. "Nobody likes Brock." Once the light clicked on, Shelly was seen sitting up with her sleeveless 'F-5' shirt on as her pajamas for the night. She climbed out of bed as if it was no matter at all. "Anyway, remind me to tell you somethin' later on Mel."

Melina yawned while standing up. She oddly had perfect hair when she woke up. Little did the camera audience know, Melina had woken up thirty minutes earlier, did her hair, and carefully got back in bed to get ready for potential camera feeds. She wasn't sure how the system worked yet.

As Shelly hopped off to the bathroom, Melina grabbed her phone to check her messages. "Alright. I'll remind you…" She hesitated as she checked her text messages. The only one worth reading other than the threats from the Bella Twins was a simple message from John Morrison which simply said 'Missing You'.

**LATER…**

After breakfast, Melina and Shelly were in their rental car well on their way to the arena for the day. The two were discussing a _lot_ of different topics, really getting back to the friendship they had prior to their career success. They were a few minutes away to arriving early to the arena, but their conversation was still building.

"So anyway," Shelly said while her feet were kicked up onto the top of the dash on the passenger's side. "I really think you and I should try that entrance idea I had. Y'know, I go in first…hang upside down like I used to with Ariel, then I reach out for your hands. You take my hands, sashay a little bit, and then pop one leg up onto the apron. You know the rest." Shelly clapped her hands twice like a giddy child. "It'll be _the best!_"

"Hmm…" Melina thought it over while she drove through the crowded streets. "Sounds okay. It gives us both a little spectacular little moment for the fans. Just remember to keep your clothes PG. I don't want your boobs poking your chin in a turtle neck." The two shared a light laugh, but soon Melina continued to speak. "Hey, let's play a game, okay? Let's see how compatible we are as far as weaknesses go. We can help fill up our weaknesses and balance each other out by talking about it, you know?"

"…You go first." Shelly did not sound very enthusiastic, but that was because she had a few things to hide.

Melina thought it over a little bit while drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. "Okay," She chuckled a little nervously and took a deep breath. She was working on trusting Shelly more, and she kept reminding herself that this was to better their bond and help springboard her solo career. "Okay, here it is. My weakness is time. The longer a match goes, the harder it is for me to keep my head in the game. I get worried about the pain I'm in, how serious it is, and if I can even continue. Especially in tag team matches, it gets a little difficult to know where I am in the ring when I've been dropped on my head eleven times." She shrugged a little bit. "I think you can help keep my head in the game. Shout at me if you have to, so I can remember where our corner is. Also I need you watch my blindside. Shout if anything fishy is going on, especially with the Bellas." Melina glanced over to Shelly to gauge her reaction. She was surprised her partner wasn't laughing at her or anything.

Melina now felt curious as to why Shelly was so serious suddenly. "Hey, you okay? This isn't making you uncomfortable is it…?"

"Vegas." Shelly said as she looked out of her window with a solemn tone in her voice.

"What?" Melina wasn't sure what Shelly was talking about.

"My weakness is Las Vegas." She spoke up a little bit, but she was starting to close up about the whole topic. "I don't do well there at all…"

"What happened?" Melina asked, now sincerely concerned about her partner's dislike for Vegas.

"Don't worry." Shelly drummed her fingers along the tops of her knees and pursed her lips together while watching the cars they passed by. "Remind me to tell you something later."

"Um..alright…"

**LATER…**

Smackdown was about to begin filming in a few minutes. All the WWE Superstars and Divas were getting ready for the show. Some were stretching in the halls, others were warming up in the locker room area, and some of the top guys were roaming around and hanging out since they did not have to go out until much later on in the night. Since the Divas Battle Royal, a lot of matches had taken place for the Diva's Tag Team tournament. Some matches were held on RAW and RAW's Pre-show, some were held during NXT, and now some were going to continue on Smackdown.

Melina was sitting up on a prop crate while checking her phone for the updates on the tournament. Thus far, **The Beautiful People** defeated Maria and Lena Yada, **Gail Kim and Victoria** defeated Jazz and Tamina, **Molly and Maryse** defeated Sereena and Kana, **Daffney and Isis The Amazon** won a violent Extreme Rules match over Christina Von Eerie and MsChif, **Shaul Guerrero **and **Charlotte Flaire** defeated Naomi Night and Cameron Lynn, and the tournament was continuing tonight. Sarah Stock and Kharma were going against Beth Phoenix and Natalya where the winner would face The Beautiful People. AJ and Hamada were facing the Shirai sisters to decide who would face the winner of SnM vs the Bella Twins.

Melina felt the pressure of the match building up. They were going to be on first, and she was really concerned about making a good impression in the match. She wanted everyone to see how truly talented she was. She didn't want all the praise to stick to AJ Lee, Lita, Mickie James, and Trish Stratus. She knew she was in their class, and better yet she knew she was at the _top_ of that class.

Her moment of preparation was interrupted when the voice of John Morrison came from down the hall.

"_There she is._" J-Mo said as he continued walking toward her. Of course, he had to show off by wearing his ring attire and ridiculously stylish fur coat along with it. "Ready for the big night?"

Melina's face presented an enticing grin as she placed her phone down beside her. "I don't know; not sure I can ditch Shelly and the cameras long enough to say."

"Ha." John moved in closer until he was right in front of her. He placed his hands down on the crate she sat on, purposefully not making physical contact with her just yet. As much as he wanted to, he knew the close proximity was probably driving her crazy already. "Are you trying to say that you want the Shaman of Sexy to work a little magic, pull a few threads of fate, and somehow find a nice secluded place for a '_big night_' for the two of us?"

Mel was still grinning. She leaned back on the crate with both of her hands resting flat on the surface behind her. She kept eye contact with him, but she too was playing a little teasing game with him by staying out of kissing range. "If that big night includes a few movies, popcorn and/or pizza? You just might be driving a hard bargain to beat."

"What kind of movies?" John brought his right hand up. He was the first to lose their little game on who was going to touch the other first. The knuckle of his index finger brushed over her cheek and gently pushed back her curly hair behind her ear.

"Well…I was thinking…" Melina basked in the warmth of John's touch. Just as she was going to speak, they were interrupted.

Kane was suddenly standing near them, once again in his full ring attire and mask. "May I recommend the _groundbreaking_ film adaption of _The Green Lantern_? It's vastly superior to Man of Steel, The Dark Knight Trilogy, and Marvel's '_The Avengers'_."

"…Uh…" Melina cleared her throat. "No Kane, that's fine…" She suddenly felt as if her life was in danger. No one truly knew how terrifying Kane was until he was talking to them in person.

Morrison backed off of Melina a bit and he too cleared his throat. "Are you kidding? Man of Steel was decent at best…; I still don't understand why he flew away from Metropolis to the middle of the Indian Ocean to destroy that…machine. Why not just use his heat vision and save the people of Metropolis first?"

Kane smiled and nodded slowly. There was an awkward few moments of silence that followed until Kane spoke up again. "Brilliant scripting." The sad part was he was entirely serious, and not sarcastic.

"Anyway," Melina slipped off of the crate and collected her phone. "I'm on in a few minutes. I'm going to go catch up with Shelly." She leaned up and kissed Morrison on his cheek and quickly ducked out before Kane could say another word to her.

After she departed, Melina moved toward the women's locker rooms to find her partner. However, as she entered the unusually empty hallway…she began to slow down. Many people were gravitating _away_ from the women's locker area except for a _few_ of the women. There were EMT's entering the room swiftly, and Melina's mind immediately expected the worst.

"Shelly?!" She called out as she hurried up toward the locker area. Once she squeezed past a few of the bystanders, she entered the locker room to find her tag partner propped up against a wall with doctors tending to the gash over her forehead. There was a bent steel chair lying beside her. "What happened to her?!" Melina quickly approached the EMTs, but she was held back by a few of the security guards inside. Despite her thrashing, she couldn't get any closer to Shelly.

"They're…sayin' I could have a concussion…" Shelly groaned as she continued to be cared for. "…The Bellas…payback, I guess…" She said as she pointed to her currently patched up forehead.

Melina's blood was boiling. If Shelly couldn't compete, they would have to forfeit the tournament. Even though it was selfish, Melina also considered her big solo career re-launch. She knew it was going to take a major hit if she did not pull out a win in the tag match.

When Booker T finally arrived to get a hold of what was going on, panic hit the General Manager like a Semi-Truck. He knew he was in a tight spot and the match _needed_ to happen. Ratings were at stake, and the buildup to Wrestlemania as well. There were literately _seconds_ before the match was to start, and he had to make a decision once the EMTs assured him that Shelly was not fit to jump into a match of this caliber.

"…Alright…" Booker T groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay…, so here's whassup Melina." He turned to face her while checking his Smartphone to contact the ring announcer before the match started up. "You can either do this as a handicap match or you'll have to drop out. Too late to find a replacement. I can't do nothin' to the Bellas but fine them, so the call is on you."

Melina grit her teeth firmly. All she could think about was giving the Bella Twins a beating worthy of a Dragonball Z episode. _Nobody_ did this to her friends on her watch, _nobody._ "Put me in the match and get the **hell out of my way…"** She growled at Booker T as she stormed from the locker area and back out into the hall.

-

Author Notes:

LONG WAIT, I know. I got incredibly caught up in shenanigans, but I'll try to update this more. Sat down and powered this chapter out to get my writing flow going again, and I think it's a serviceable cliffhanger for the match I'm going to put together. I KNOW the WWE storylines are much different now, and there is a lot going on right now I'd like to mess with, but I'm going to stick with my pretend version of the WWE for this tale of partnership.

Tell me what you think, even if this was just a little bit of character development. Sort of.


End file.
